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WHY DO RESEARCH BEFORE YOUR INTERVIEW?
- You will be able to more fully demonstrate your enthusiasm for the career field and the organization.
- You will also be able to articulate how your skills, knowledge and values match those of the organization and industry.
- You can determine if this is an organization to which you would want to devote the next few years of your work life.
REMEMBER: You can never know "too much" about an organization. Interviewers are always impressed when you have conducted your research thoroughly and can ask informed, intelligent questions about the organization and the job.
A NOTE TO ALUMNI: many of the "best resources" highlighted on this page are only available from the BC campus. If you can't make it to the BC campus, we recommend you use a good local library (preferably at a college or university) for your research, and ask the reference librarian for assistance.
RESEARCH THE CAREER FIELD
Before an interview, you MUST educate yourself:
- How does this industry work - what do the organizations do, how do they make their money (or, in the case of nonprofits and government agencies, how and whom do they serve)?
- What are the skills and personal qualities that successful professionals in this industry share?
- What are the significant trends in this industry?
Vault and Wetfeet guides
FREE, downloadable, book-length guides to a variety of industries.Books - the Career Resource Library contains books that cover career fields in much greater depth than most Web sites.
Our Career Field pages
Over 70 career fields.Boston College Career Network
9000 alumni who have volunteered to speak with BC students and alumni.Keep up with industry trends - read relevant "trade journals" and websites
- Professionals in many industries rely on journals and/or Web sites that provide current news and information on trends within the industry. (EXAMPLES: in book publishing, it's Publishers Weekly; in advertising, it's Advertising Age and AdWeek.)
- Bizjournals.com - click on "News By Industry" or "News By Markets" (specific cities)
- If you don't know what to read, ask professionals in the field (see the BC Career Network).
RESEARCH THE ORGANIZATION
When you go for an interview, you should absolutely know: the company, its products, its problems, its opportunities and its competitors.
As you research, keep this question in mind:
What are the skills and personality characteristics that this job demands and this organization values, and how does your experience and background demonstrate those skills and traits?
Before your interview, you should know the following (bare minimum):
- What are this organization's products and/or services? (Even nonprofit organizations serve people through education, lobbying efforts, publications, etc.)
- What direction has the organization taken within the past one to two years, and what might be expected in the near future?
- What does this organization value? Obviously, for-profit organizations value profit. But most organizations are driven by other values, as well - social conformity; innovation; teamwork; efficiency; the professional development of its employees; public service. You should search for: a) what the organization states about its values, and b) what they really are. The two are not always in agreement.
- If you will be working in a division of the organization, what is the role of that division, and how does it relate to the parent organization?
You may also want to take a look at A Company's Culture Is As Important as the Job, an article at CareerJournal.com, from the Wall Street Journal.
Specific Career Fields:
What you need to know for an interview may depend on the type of job you are seeking.
Some examples:
- If you're seeking a job as a counselor or social worker, you should try to find out what the agency's philosophy and standard treatment practices are.
- If you are seeking a finance position, you should have a grasp on the company's financial statistics.
- If you are seeking a teaching position, you should have a clear understanding of the state standards for your grade level and subject. (In Massachusetts, these are known as the "curriculum frameworks" - and not being familiar with them can hurt your chances of getting a good job.)
- If you are applying for a marketing position, you should know how the company positions itself within the industry and what its advertising and marketing has looked like over the past several years.
There are TWO categories of information you should find:
1. COMPANY PROFILES
Research the organization's Web site - but don't depend solely on what the company tells you.
Usually the easiest way to find an organization's site.Hoover's Online
Hoover's provides very brief Company Capsules on over 10,000 companies, both public and private.Vault and Wetfeet guides
FREE, downloadable, book-length guides to a handful of companies, mostly in finance and management consulting.GuideStar.org
Provides financial data on over 600,000 nonprofit organizations.SEC Filings
The Securities and Exchange Commission requires all publicly-owned companies to file certain reports.
TIP: search for the company's "10K" reports.
Lexus/Nexus - millions of articles
- Available only from computers on the BC campus or with a current BC username and password.
- For organizations with a national presence, use the "Business" category, then the "Business News" sub-category.
- For local, smaller or more obscure companies, click on the "News" category, then the "US News" sub-category (the regional and state searches access a greater number of local newspapers).
- Available only from computers on the BC campus or with a current BC username and password.
- The easiest way to search for companies is to click on the "Companies/Markets" tab at the top of the screen.
Boston College Career Network
9000 alumni who have volunteered to speak with BC students and alumni.PR Newswire
The latest news from hundreds of companies. Also a great way to keep up with industry trends.